Oh  Christmas Tree?
by AuntMo
Summary: Team Free will has a most unusual Christmas experience.


**Title: **Oh…Christmas Tree?

**Characters: **Dean, Sam, Castiel, Gabriel, OC

**Pairings: **none

**Genre**: gen; hints at het, No slash

**Ratings/Warnings**: PG, no spoilers; .

**Summary: **A most unusual Christmas experience for Team Free Will

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Supernatural_ or any of its characters.I also don't own the Christmas tree. That belongs to my mother.

**A/N**: I was thinking about posting a lj entry about my mother's most unusual Christmas tree. I decided to write a fic about it instead. I have of picture of the tree on my lj account (auntmo9). Or if you want to see it you you can PM and I can send you a copy.

Castiel wasn't the only one.

All four of them were standing with their heads tilted slightly to one side, confusion evident on their faces, as the snow gently fell around them. They were on the sidewalk in front of a brick home, looking into the bay window.

"It's one of the weirdest damn things I have ever seen," Dean said.

"I have been on earth longer than all of you," Gabriel remarked. "And I don't ever recall having seen anything like it before."

"Do you think it could be demonic?" Sam asked.

"I have been wondering that for the last twenty years," a female voice said from behind them, "Ever since my mother first started doing it that way when I was ten years old. But despite its appearance, I don't have any evidence that it is."

The four of them turned to look at her. She was rather petite, standing at five foot three and had brunette waves that framed her freckled face and hazel eyes. "Leah Holt," she offered as she extended her hand. "And this is the home of my parents, George and Susan Holt."

"Dean Winchester," the hunter replied taking her hand. "And this is my brother Sam."

Gabriel nudged Dean out of the way and took her hand, bringing it to his lips. "Enchanté, mademoiselle. They call me Gabriel." At the sound of Dean clearing his throat he added, "Oh and that is my brother Castiel over there."

"Two sets of brothers?" Leah asked. "What, are you guys a sitcom waiting to happen, or something?"

"Or something," Sam muttered under his breath.

"Well, you don't have to stand out here in the snow all day. Why don't you come inside and decide for yourself if it is evil or not?" she offered as a smile played across her lips.

As they followed her into the house, Dean spoke up. "Not to be rude, but do you always invite strangers into your parents' house?"

"What? And let my dad pass up an opportunity to try and charge you admission?" Leah smirked. "They get a kick out of this sort of thing. I think it is one of the reasons they do it."

Now that they were in the house they took a closer look at it. Gabriel was the first one to break the silence.

"The angel is actually on the bottom, and it is _still _a freaking girl."

Leah stared at him. "My parents hang their Christmas tree _upside down_ from the ceiling, and you are more worried that your namesake is portrayed as a girl?"

"Namesake, yeah right," he grumbled as Sam and Dean tried to suppress their laughter.

"There are many things I don't understand," Castiel spoke for the first time. "Like what an upside down tree has to do with the birth of Christ. And the birth itself did not occur in the winter months. Rather, it occurred in the spring. So why is it that Christmas is celebrated now?"

Everyone laughed, despite themselves. "The tree isn't supposed to be upside down Cas. That is why we all stopped to stare," Dean answered. "Though one that is right side up doesn't have much do with it either, I suppose."

"Oh, and many of us know that Christ wasn't born in the winter. But the resurrection also occurred in the spring," Leah supplied. "We would have to celebrate them both around the same time if we were being accurate. They always say Christians moved Christmas to December in order to compete with the pagans. But personally, I think someone just wanted an excuse to eat sweets at another time of the year as part of the celebration, not that I would blame them. Speaking of which, would anyone like some pie?"

"Pie?" both Dean and Gabriel said hopefully.

"I'll take that as yes," Leah said as she excused herself to go to the kitchen.

"I kind of like that girl," Gabriel professed. "Offers us pie, has a keen sense of history."

Sam looked at Gabriel. "Seriously, dude, you didn't?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," denied the archangel.

"I believe Sam is correct," Castiel volunteered. "You are one of the few beings not only capable of such a cultural shift, but also willing to do so for your own gain."

"Fine, fine," Gabriel confessed. "So sue me. Freckles is right, who wouldn't want an excuse to eat more sweets as a part of a holiday celebration? I just kind of helped the process along. And now everyone has a holiday to celebrate in December."

"Did you just call her Freckles?" Dean asked.

"What? Like Team Darlton owns the rights to that nickname," Gabriel retorted.

"Okay," Leah said as walked back in the room. "I have peach pie all around, and milk if anyone wants it."

Dean took a bite of his pie. "Lady, this pie is amazing. Did you make it yourself?"

"No, I just snapped my fingers and it appeared out of thin air," she cracked. "Of course I made it. I love to bake."

Gabriel smirked as Dean started to choke on his pie. He was definitely going to find a way to come back here later.

"Are you okay, Dean? Is there something wrong with the pie?"

"No, no the pie is perfect," he said. "I was just caught off guard by…something else."

"So they hang the tree upside down, and if the top is at the bottom, and, well traditionally, you put presents under the tree, what do your parents do with their presents," Sam pried.

"Oh, my mom is really creative," Leah responded. "She has my dad hang a net across the ceiling, above the tree, and they put the presents up in the net."

"Is there anything normal about your family?" Gabriel asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, I don't hear you complaining about the pie," Leah shot back.

"Yeah," Dean said. "And, don't be so quick to judge messenger boy. Look what your family arguments lead to. Of course, Sammy and I don't have the most normal family either."

"Well, I can't imagine that anyone has a perfect family," Leah offered. "So, as much as I joke about the tree being evil, just because they hang it upside down, you can see it is relatively harmless."

"Are you sure about that Leah?" Sam asked as his eyes widened at a sudden movement in the tree.

"What? You guys are experts on evil now?" Leah asked, shaking her head.

"Well, there is a troll in your tree," Castiel observed as he pointed to a creature peeking out of the branches nearest the ceiling.


End file.
